Kirsty Manning-Wilcox - We love food : growing it and eating it

Kirsty Manning-Wilcox and Peta Heine

Photography by Jacqui Henshaw

We Love Food

Recipes from the garden

Kirsty
For Alex, Henry, Jemima and Charlie with love.

Peta
For John and Barb Heine for igniting my passion for food
and teaching me that commitment is everything.

Published in 2010 by
Hardie Grant Books
85 High Street
Prahran, Victoria 3181, Australia
www.hardiegrant.com.au

Published in the United Kingdom in 2010 by Hardie Grant Books (London)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders.

The moral right of the authors has been asserted.
Copyright text Peta Heine and Kirsty Manning-Wilcox 2010
Copyright photography Jacqui Henshaw 2010

Cataloguing-in-Publication data is available from the National Library of Australia.

ISBN 978 1 74066 696 1

Edited by Paul McNally
Design by Trisha Garner
Photography by Jacqui Henshaw
Styling by Deborah Kaloper
Handwritten notes by Deborah Reidy
Colour reproduction by Splitting Image Colour Studio
Printed and bound in China by C & C Offset Printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The publisher would like to thank the following for their generosity in supplying props for the book: Empire Vintage, Frances Roberts at Marmalade Caf, Izzi & Popo, Made in Japan, Market Import, Moss, Warehouse 8 and Wilkins and Kent.

Contents

CHAPTER

FRUIT / VEGETABLE

We Love Food is for families who want a simple, practical and achievable way to create and celebrate food in the garden and on the table. We believe cooking, gardening, harvesting, preparing and sharing food is integral to family life and will lay the foundations for a lifetime appreciation of food.

We Love Food focuses on eating fruit and vegetables in season. Not only do fruit and vegetables taste their best when in season, theyre also cheaper and it makes sense to eat food that is grown locally, rather than imported out of season. Just because you can buy strawberries in winter doesnt mean you should!

Growing and buying your produce in season means your family can look forward to certain foods at different times of the year. Who doesnt love the onset of summer and its oodles of berries and mangoes, or the anticipation of minestrone soup bursting with flavour in autumn and winter? Spending time in the garden will help your children understand the cycle of life. Not only will they be harvesting their own vegetables, they will see them go from the basket to the kitchen and onto the table for dinner. But dont worry if you dont have a vegetable garden head to your local farmers market and let the kids look and taste the array of fresh fruit and vegetables on display.

Theres no need to be precious about our recipes many of the ingredients can be swapped to match whatever is in your garden, fridge or cupboard, and we encourage you to make these recipes your own. Like the gardening tips, the recipes are simple and quick, and we have geared the chapters to match the demands of a busy family life. There are weeknight dinners for staples, soups to have as a backup, salads and vegetables to spice up any meal, and slow cooking and more elaborate dishes for the weekend when theres time to shop, prepare and entertain. Weve even got some breakfast ideas in here to break the monotonous cereal cycle. For inspiration and smooth sailing during the week, check out the kids lunchbox chapter for delicious healthy snacks that wont float around at the bottom of the school bag! Lastly, we have some sweet treats for the whole family and a section of pickles, relishes and preserves so you can extend the magic of every season in your pantry.

Throughout the book, weve included some of our SOS recipe ideas these are our top tips to get food on the table when time is short and tummies are grumbling.

Weve also included basic guidelines on how to grow some of our favourite fruit and vegetables staples like tomatoes, lettuce, potatoes, peas and beans, and sweet treats like strawberries and rhubarb as this helps kids understand that food is a soil to table process. It need not matter whether your garden is a few pots with lettuce, herbs and cherry tomatoes or a full-scale kitchen garden. Including kids in the process creates a sense of achievement that will positively influence their relationship with food far more than dinner table bribes or threats ever will.

Eat together as often as you can to encourage your kids by example. By eating with your children you can create a conversation about food. This conversation can begin in the garden and the kitchen. If you are preparing a fruit salad and have a beautiful melon, encourage them to smell it and comment. This involvement in the food before it reaches the table gives your child confidence and you will often find their natural curiosity overrides their reason for not trying a particular dish or ingredient.

Taste is not always the reason kids refuse to try something it can often be the way it looks or smells. As a parent, you need to think of ways to involve all their senses so they are not ruled by just one. For example, if your child wont taste, then at least get them to smell the food and tell you what they think.

We are not suggesting that you go through this process for every meal, but in our experience these strategies work well over time and with patience. So, above all, keep trying. As with all new experiences with children, whether it be riding a bike, learning to read or trying new flavours, repetition and praise are the keys to success.

Lets face it: during the week cereal, toast, fruit and yoghurt are the breakfast staples on busy mornings. Between preparing school lunches, locating homework and sporting equipment, and packing school bags, there isnt much time for anything else.

However, if youre looking to break the monotony of weekday breakfasts try the Moroccan Breakfast Couscous, Banana and Cinnamon Porridge or make a batch of Sweet Lemon Pikelets and pop a couple in the lunchbox as a special treat.

If youre planning brunch with friends, or having a tribe of kids for a sleepover, then the Fried Asparagus Rolls and Tomato and Prosciutto Skewers look great at the breakfast table on platters.